


Flowered

by Hyx_Sydin



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Magic, SGA Secret Santa Fic Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 01:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13113150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyx_Sydin/pseuds/Hyx_Sydin
Summary: Evan sees Parrish doing something unexpected, then has to disclose his own secret.





	Flowered

**Author's Note:**

  * For [squidgie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidgie/gifts).



> Happy Holidays to [squidgie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/squidgie/pseuds/squidgie) ♥ and every single one of you guys! 
> 
> Also written for the [What If? AU Challenge](http://whatif-au.livejournal.com/) #8: Magic AU.
> 
> A giant THANK YOU to [brumeier](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier) for the last minute beta, I am most appreciative!

It was said that only the most special of people were gifted with magical abilities, and that these abilities were a reflection of who that person would grow up to be. And like everything that separated one group of people from another, magic and its users became something abhorrent and persecuted by those without it.

Unlike the world of Harry Potter, there were no special schools where gifted children could learn how to harness their magic. Instead, when a child showed signs of magical abilities, parents had to find someone of similar talents who could teach their child the necessary control to remain undetected by those who would harm them.

Every so often there would be a news report of a magic user, or even a suspected user, having been found dead or badly beaten by those who feared and hated them. Which was why Evan was not surprised to see Parrish flee as soon as he had noticed him, seeing as how Parrish had been reviving the almost dead plants in Atlantis’ nursery with a caress of his hand and a few whispered words.

Evan thought about taking off after the other man, explaining that Parrish had nothing to fear from him, but Evan knew that words alone would not be enough. After a brief stop at his own quarters, he made his way to the room Parrish had chosen for himself. When there was no response to his knocking, he discretely checked the life signs detector he’d fetched earlier and found that the room was empty. Unsure of where else the botanist could be, Evan put the detector away, tucked his hands into his pockets, and turned to make his way to the back to his room. Except he turned around and came face-to-face with a scared looking Parrish and a pissed off looking McKay.

“Major.”

“Doctor McKay.” Evan bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement but kept his eyes on the bigger threat, as the air around the scientist crackled. “I mean no one any harm,” he said, hands held out non-threateningly. “I’d just like to have a private word with a member of my team.”

Evan chanced a quick glance at Parrish, noting the way the other man’s eyes widened in surprise at his choice of words when referring to him. Despite McKay’s continued glare, the air no longer crackled as if charged and ready to strike. He briefly wondered if Sheppard knew he had a mage on his team, decided that he probably did, and mentally vowed to be more cautious when dealing with the volatile scientist.

McKay turned his glare on Parrish, prompting Evan to look as well, but Parrish was sharing a look with McKay instead. After a moment of silent communication McKay sighed and nodded at Parrish, threw an irritated look at Evan, and then stalked off. “If you end up flayed and displayed, I’ll have Biro bring you back long enough for me to say: I told you so!”

“So uhh.” Parrish fidgeted where he stood, not looking at Evan. “What did you want to talk about?”

Evan stepped aside and gestured to the room behind him. “We should probably…”

“Of course,” Parrish said, rushing forward to wave his room open before heading in.

Evan followed and waved the door closed, mentally asserting the command to lock it, then moved towards Parrish’s desk to drop his sketchbook on it.

“I wanted to tell you,” Parrish blurted out, a look of remorse on his face as he wrung his hands together. “That first mission. I wanted to tell you on that first mission but Doctor McKay said he didn’t know you and you might not be trustworthy and that we were more valuable here in Atlantis for what we can do and that Colonel Sheppard would keep us all safe from the witch hunters but I didn’t believe someone as nice as you would ever be heartless enough to punish someone for something they have no control over and I, I wanted to tell you, I really did-”

“David,” Evan said, grabbing the other man’s flailing hands while keeping an eye on the plants in the room as they reacted to the mage’s agitated feelings. 

Parrish came to a stop and stared at him strangely, head tilted to the side. “You said my name.”

“Ahh sorry.” Evan released his hold and made to step back, but Parrish grabbed onto his hands, holding on tight.

“It’s… it’s fine.” Parrish said, giving Evan a little shy smile.

“That’s… that’s good.” Evan said, smiling in return.

They stood staring at each other. Evan felt heat creep up the back of his neck as the grip Parrish had on his hands lessened and became the other man holding his hands, finger tips exploring the skin they touched.

Evan felt his smile soften unconsciously and watched as Parrish’s did the same. “I uhh.” Evan cleared his throat as he shuffled his feet, careful not to jostle their joined hands. “I want to show you something.”

“Okay.” Parrish nodded in understanding.

Evan felt heat spread across his cheeks as he said: “I’m gonna need my hands...”

“Oh!” Parrish immediately dropped his hands and stepped away, tucking his own hands under his arms as he crossed them. “Sorry.”

“Okay. So,” Evan rubbed his hands together as he turned towards his sketchbook. “I know your secret, so it’s only fair for you to know mine.”

Parrish stepped closer, his body angled so he could see the sketchbook as well as Evan’s face, but didn't say anything.

“When I was nine I really wanted a skateboard but my parents refused. I remember pouring over catalogs and comparing the different boards and which ones would be better. I’m pretty sure I was hoping them refusing was just a way to surprise me with one for Christmas. I threw the biggest tantrum on Christmas morning when there was no skateboard under the tree for me.” Evan looked up from paging through his sketchbook to grin up at Parrish, enjoying the look of confusion on the other man’s face. “According to my mom, I grabbed the catalog and began showing them the cheapest of the skateboards, trying to change their mind, but Dad kept saying no. And then all of a sudden there was this pressure in the room, and suddenly there was a skateboard in my hands.”

Parrish breathed out an almost silent _Oh!_ as his hands flew to his mouth and he stared at Evan wide eyed.

“Yeah,” Evan said, still grinning. “Here, let me show you.” Evan gestured towards his sketchbook in order to draw Parrish’s attention to the rough sketch of a bullet he'd opened it to. Evan concentrated on his breathing, eyes and mind focused on the sketch, and then pulled the bullet into existence; there was the usual buildup of pressure in the room and then suddenly it was gone.

A perfectly formed bullet lay over his sketch. Parrish wordlessly reached out and poked at it, and when it moved on contact with his finger, pick it up in order to examine it.

“The more complex the subject, the more I have to understand it,” Evan explained, smiling sheepishly when Parrish glanced at him. “So that very first skateboard I created? It wasn’t very practical.” Evan reached into the pockets of his BDU’s and brought out a set of keys, which were attached to a skateboard keychain.

Parrish burst into giggles and then immediately tried to stop, but it was hopeless, and in no time he was doubled over laughing.

Evan chuckled along because it **was** funny. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he glanced around in awe as the various plants in the room swayed in time with Parrish’s laugh.

Eventually the other man tapered off into giggles, but as he stood he stumbled and reached out a hand to catch himself, knocking Evan’s sketchbook off the desk as he did so. They both went to pick it up, but Evan’s attention was on Parrish and the way he seemed to glow with his amusement, and so it was only when the botanist’s face suffused with color that he glanced down.

“Oh my god!” Evan blurted out as he snatched the book up and hugged it to his chest, mortified. “I am so so **so** sorry David.”

Parrish’s face was bright red and his eyes were huge. “Is that- is that how you see me?”

“No!” Evan was quick to answer but faltered when the other man’s face fell. “That- that’s not how I really see you I swear! I know you’re not a- not some sex object. Oh my god this is terrible!” Evan rifled through the pages of his sketchbook frantically before finally finding the page he was looking for. “Here,” he said, thrusting it at Parrish, “this is how I see you!”

Evan could see the hesitance with which Parrish looked at the sketch but then the embarrassment of earlier disappeared and a look of almost awe appeared on his face. “Really?” he asked, glancing at Evan almost shyly.

“Yeah.” Evan rubbed the back of his neck, heat spreading across his cheeks once again.

Parrish rubbed a finger across the sketch as he took another look at it. It was a detailed sketch of him offworld; knees in the dirt as he collected samples, and from an angle where you could see his happy smile and sparkling eyes.

“This too,” Evan said as he stepped closer and turned the page.

This sketch showed Parrish holding a sapling he had just removed from the ground, hands filled with the dirt its roots clung to, out towards the observer; an aura of happiness surrounded him.

Evan glanced up to see Parrish’s reaction only to find the other man looking at him, from way closer than he was expecting. But before he could move away, Parrish leaned forward and pressed his lips to Evan’s. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, Evan leaned in and reciprocated.

When they eventually parted for much needed air, Parrish was pushed up against his desk and Evan’s sketchbook lay forgotten on the ground. And unknown to either of them because they were too busy looking at each other, all of the plants in the room had flowered.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for giving this a read, I hope you enjoyed! ♥ Feedback would be loved.
> 
> My summary was better earlier but the the site wouldn't post it :( sadfully you guys will have to put up with this version.


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